Energy Chews
by PurpleDuckTwins
Summary: Valerie opened the note, in the slightly messy script of a man not accustomed to writing in pen was the perfect response...
1. Chapter 1

Valerie opened the note, in the slightly messy script of a man not accustomed to writing in pen was the perfect response: _The blue chews are better._ She laughed it was just like him not to appreciate her gift.

Valerie slipped the note in her back pocket, catching the way John watched her with a slight smile lighting up his otherwise guarded face. It wasn't often that you received a hand written note these days and she was not about to just throw it in the bin.

She made her way back to her desk to finish up for the day hopefully get home at a reasonable hour, which hadn't happened much lately. She was constantly finding herself distracted by the way that John watched her when he thought that nobody was looking. It sent shivers down her spine remembering the way his brown eyes followed her as she moved through the precinct.

John couldn't help but smile as he stealthily watched Valerie make her way back to her desk, it had been a while but he believed that what had just transpired between them fell under the category of "flirting" and he couldn't wait for it to continue. Now he just had to come up with a way to ensure that it did.

Dorian looked up from the paperwork that he was working on from their most recent case. Noticing John's smile he smirked, "What's got you so happy John?" he asked, already guessing the answer.

"Nothing, how much of the report have you finished?" John responded quickly drawing the DRN's attentions away from his mood and back to the work that needed to be done.

Dorian smiled but let John change the subject, he would bring it up again when there were fewer people around, and John had no way of escaping the conversation. He did however catch John glancing a few too many times in the direction of the beautiful Detective Stahl.

Valerie arrived the next morning to find a note on her desk, with a blue energy chew taped to it. She smiled and glanced around, the precinct was close to empty, the captain was in her office diligently typing away at her computer and a few MX's were silently standing in wait for their next orders. John was nowhere to be seen, but he had left after her the night before and it wasn't unlike him to be one of the last ones in for the morning shift.

Valerie picked up the paper and read: _In case you've never tried one, I wouldn't want you to miss out. _She laughed and put the note next to her computer. A few minutes later Dorian walked through the precinct doors, smiling he greeted Valerie, "How was your night Detective Stahl?"

"Good, I caught the end of the game!" she replied. "How are your new living quarters?"

Dorian laughed, "much better, thank you for asking." He made his way passed her and started to pull up files on the computer by John's desk.

Valerie turned back to her own computer, not failing to see the blue energy chew waiting next to it.

John arrived to see Dorian already working near his desk, but Valerie was not occupying her own. He did however notice that her coat was draped over the back of her chair and the note he had left the night before had been moved from the center to a spot next to her computer. He made his way over to Dorian who glanced over with a smile, "Hello John, how has your morning been so far?" the DRN asked.

Grunting John sat down, "What are you working on?"

"I was just finishing some paperwork from the case that we closed last night, you had a few spelling errors including the name of the victim. And a minute ago we got a noise complaint from a residence where we frequently have to separate domestic disputes. The captain has assigned us to check it out." Dorian summarized.

"Alright, next time start with the call not my spelling errors," John growled as he stood and started making his way towards the doors to the precinct.

Dorian followed, "Okay, but you asked what I was doing, not about the call that had just come in, I was trying to answer your question because I hold you in high regard and did not want to seem rude by ignoring your inquiry."

John was only half listening to Dorian, as he was making his way to the doors Valerie emerged from the break room with a glass of water in her hand. When she spotted John she smiled and waved, her returned the gesture awkwardly. They passed just as she was reaching her desk, "Thank you for the energy chew," Valerie said smiling.

John glanced to her desk, seeing the chew still in its wrapper he glanced back at her, "let me know what you think once you've tried it." Smiling he continued out of the precinct.

Dorian followed John, "May I drive today?" he asked, already fully knowing the answer.

John glanced over his shoulder, "No," was the only thing he said, however he still had a small smile lingering on his face from the encounter with Valerie. They got into the car, John on the driver's side, and Dorian entered the coordinates into the car's navigation system. John pulled the car out of the lot still thinking about his brief conversation with Valerie.

Dorian noticing the smile still evident on Johns face asked, "What has you so happy Detective?"

"Nothing," John grunted not making eye contact with the DRN.

"From your response I have two theories as to what could be causing your good mood," Dorian responded. "The first is that you are happy to be partnered with me and therefore are glad that we are driving to a call together and having this conversation."

John laughed, "The second theory has to be better than that."

"It is," Dorian replied with a smile, "my second theory, which I do find more likely, is that your good mood directly relates to the brief encounter that you just had with Detective Stahl as we were exiting the precinct. The only other reason is that you are happy to be going to a call about domestic violence, and I don't find it likely that you would like a domestic violence case.

While Dorian was talking the smile had vanished from John's face and he only grumbled that he was not happy about domestic violence.


	2. Chapter 2

When they pulled up to the house a few minutes later it was obvious why the neighbors had called the cops. John could hear the husband yelling, he couldn't make out all of the words but there was a fair amount of cursing and if he wasn't mistaken he hear the word "affair" thrown around in the mix. John glanced at Dorian who nodded and they both moved up the front steps onto the porch of the house.

Dorian scanned the house, "I'm getting a man and a woman on the first floor, there is an entryway and they are in the room to the left," he was quiet for a minute, the blue lights still flashing on the side of his face. "John, I'm also getting a person on the second floor of the house, a young boy, hiding in a closet."

John nodded, "Okay, first we separate the parents, and then we'll find the boy." John slammed his fist into the door three times "Police, open the door!"

They heard the couple quiet some, the man said something then there were footsteps and the door swung open to reveal a middle-aged woman with messy brown hair and a ripped shirt. "Everything is fine, please leave," she deadpanned the look in her eyes saying something very different.

Dorian stepped forward, "We got a noise complaint and we need to check the house, it's protocol."

The husband came in, fists clenched, ready to throw the android back onto the street. John stepped forward, "Sir this will only take a minute, as my partner has stated this is the protocol. Is there anyone else in the house." He looked to the wife, who glanced up the stairs to her right. In the amount of time it took John to glance up the stairs as well the husband grabbed a baseball bat and swung it at John's head. It connected with a thud and John hit the floor in a daze.

Dorian jumped forward pinning the man to the wall and securing his wrists in handcuffs before helping John to his feet. "Are you alright John?"

"Yeah, but this guy won't be when I'm done with him, you're under arrest for assaulting a police officer." John said glaring at the man handcuffed against the wall.

"I've run your vitals and you don't appear to have broken any bones, however I do believe that you have a slight concussion and should refrain from operating heavy machinery or over exerting yourself." Dorian reported, "I'm going to check on the boy upstairs," with that Dorian climbed the stairs.

John told the wife to wait in the entryway and grabbed the husband's arm to lead him out to the car. Once he had secured the man in the back of the car he reentered the house to find Dorian talking to the mother and son. "We will send a curser to pick you up and bring you to the station where you can give your full statement," he was saying, "they should be here in three minutes."

As the curser pulled away with mother and son safely in the backseat Dorian looked at John, "Does this mean that I get to drive back, seeing as you have a concussion?"

"Fine, but don't mess with my seat," John replied moving to get into the car.

*.*.*

As John was finishing up the paperwork for the case Valerie walked over to him. She perched on the edge of his desk smiling, "Is it really wise to be staring at a computer screen for this long when you have a concussion?" she asked innocently.

He glanced up at her, "Maybe not, but I can't leave until it's finished, so here I am. Unless you're offering to finish it for me?" he asked hopefully, John hated paperwork and his headache wasn't helping very much.

She smiled, "Oh, no of course not, that would be against protocol. Your case your paperwork." Still smiling she added, "I just wanted to see if the rumors were true."

"What rumors?" John asked glancing around.

"Well," Valerie hesitated a moment, "I heard that you were knocked out while handling a simple domestic violence call," She shrugged, "and from the look of the report that you're finishing up the rumors appear to be accurate." John stared at her mouth slightly open failing to come up with a response, she continued, "I just didn't believe that they could be, the great Detective Kennex brought down by an angry husband" she trailed off laughing.

John ran a hand through his hair, "It wasn't like that!"

"No?" Valerie questioned, "What was it like then?" she asked with a slight smile still playing on her lips.

"Well he hit me with a bat and I wasn't expecting it because I was preoccupied by the kid who was hiding upstairs, I really didn't think that he would be stupid enough to assault a police officer in front of his wife and within ear shot of his son." John stopped noticing the laughter in her eyes he smiled too. "And how was your day Detective Stahl?"

Valerie sighed still smiling, "A bit boring, I spent most of it going over old case reports and trying to find links that probably aren't even there."

"And listening to nasty rumors at the water cooler." John added with a laugh.

"Oh, I didn't hear that one at the water cooler, I got it straight from the source," she said as she pushed off of his desk and made her way back to her own.

It took John a minute to comprehend her meaning, "Dorian I swear," he said to the DRN who had been strangely quiet throughout the exchange, "You do remember the fate of my last partner, don't you?"

Dorian laughed, "You like me too much for that John, and I did get her to come talk to you so you should be thanking me."

John glanced back at Valerie, and smiling back to his computer. A slip of paper that hadn't been there before was folded on John's desk in the space that Valerie had just vacated. Slipping it off the desk so Dorian wouldn't notice he read: _If you need a ride home just ask._


	3. Chapter 3

**This is my first story, so I would really appreciate any feedback you have! This chapter gets a bit more romantic, so have fun!**

* * *

"Hey man do you need a ride home?" Dorian asked as they were closing down their computers for the night.

John glanced toward Valerie who was on the phone; she smiled at John and resumed taking notes on computer in front of her. "No, I'll be alright." Dorian gave him a confused look. "Trust me, I promise I won't drive with a concussion, scout's honor."

"Alright, I'll see you in the morning then John." Dorian said as he left the precinct, which was mostly empty now, only a few detectives hurriedly finishing their reports so they could get home.

John made his way over to Valerie's desk, she was still on the phone leaning back in her chair with a slight smile on her lips as she glanced up at John who was fingering the edge of her desk as he waited for her to finish. "Okay thank you for getting back to me, I'll look into the connection first thing tomorrow," Valerie finished the conversation and hung up the phone. "Hey John, what's up?"

"Well I was hoping that your offer was still good, for the ride, I don't really trust Dorian's driving skills," he said with a hopeful smile.

She laughed, "Sure, but John the androids can read traffic flows, anticipate light changes, and so on, they are really much safer drivers than any human could be."

"So they say, but you're telling me that while they are doing all that they can still react to sudden changes like accidents or kids kicking balls into the road?"

"That's what they tell me," she smiled. "I still prefer to drive as well," she finished shutting down her computer and stood up, grabbing her jacket and purse.

They made their was down to the parking lot, John slipped into the passenger side while Valerie got into the driver's seat. She pulled out of the lot and John started to give her directions to his apartment.

They pulled up in front of John's apartment, John looked at Valerie "I taped last night's game, do you what to come up and watch it?"

"I'd like that," she said with a smile.

They got out of the car, walked up to the front doors, which John unlocked and preceded to the elevator in silence. It felt comfortable, unlike the silence of sitting next to a cold MX, the silence between the detectives was warm and full of electricity.

John opened the door to his apartment, "would you like anything to drink or eat? We could order something if you like."

"Pizza and beer?" she asked hoping that he would agree.

He laughed, "you read my mind, make yourself at home, I'll order the pizza."

Valerie settled on the couch and took in her surroundings. There was a large flat screen TV, which seemed to be the center of everything, a wooden coffee table with plenty of scratches and nicks across the surface, a bookcase with old copies of actual books. She hadn't seen that in a while, the whole apartment felt comfortable and welcoming, very old fashioned but she liked it, and could see how John fit into it so well.

John entered the room with two cold beers in his hands, handing her one he sat on the couch next to her and grabbed the remote.

A small smile spread across Valerie's face as she took a sip of her beer. "Why don't we make this game a bit more interesting?" she asked in an innocent voice.

"What do you mean?" John asked looking directly into her beautiful eyes, no matter what she asked he knew that he wouldn't be able to say 'no.'

"What if we each choose a team, and when the other person's team scores we loose a piece of our clothing," Valerie trailed off smirking as she took a sip of beer.

John's eyes got wider, had she really just suggested strip soccer? He took a drink, the cold beer giving him the courage to say, "Why not, what team do you want?"

Smiling Valerie chose her team, she had caught the end of the game last night and knew the outcome, leaving John with no choice but to take the other, being the gentleman that his is. He clicked play on the remote and the game came to life, the first five minutes were scoreless, however in the next minute John's team scored off of a remarkable corner kick. He glanced over at Valerie, who was already pulling off her grey shirt to reveal a black cami underneath.

Valerie pulled her feet up beneath her and leaned into the back of the couch glancing at John with a smile on her lips, "Don't get too smug, you'll be stripping soon enough."

And she was right, in five minutes between when she had had to remove her own shirt and when the pizza arrived Valerie's team scored twice, forcing John to remove his shirt and undershirt and answer the door with a bare chest. As he closed the door and walked back to her with the hot pizza, "keep on smiling, but my team is going to make a great comeback just watch."

He grabbed a slice of pizza, put his feet up on the coffee table and refocused on the game, almost as if he thought that his undying loyalty could swing the game back in his favor. Valerie smiled as she grabbed a slice herself and leaned back into the couch cushions.

The first half ended with Valerie's teem up 2 to 1, but as the teams retook the field John still had faith. His team scored within the first five minutes, he glanced at her, wondering what she would reveal, her long legs or slender torso. "Val, you don't have to" he trailed off

She smiled and stood turning her back to him she undid the button and zipper to her jeans. She glanced back, "a deal's a deal, John" she said and slowly slid the material from her legs. John took in her strong, toned legs, and at the top just below her cami he noticed that she was wearing a simple pair of black bikini style panties. She stepped backwards out of her pants, and her bare leg brushed against his jeans.

She sat back down, legs crisscrossed with her left knee resting on his thigh. "This is a dangerous game you're playing Detective Stahl" John said looking directly into her eyes.

Valerie laughed, "I liked 'Val' more," she responded taking a sip of her beer.

John smiled, and then turned back to the game, while she had been slipping out of her pants her team had taken advantage of his distraction and was about to score. Valerie laughed, her team was up again and it was John's turn to strip. She stretched her legs out to rest on the coffee table.

John stood and undid his jeans, slipping them off and kicking them aside in one clean motion, which was impressive for a man with a prosthetic leg. He was wearing a pair of dark grey boxer briefs, and looked slightly uncomfortable having to reveal his prosthetic to her. She smiled and they both turned back to the game.

There were a few more close calls for both sides but nobody scored again until there was two minutes left in play, Valerie's team had the ball everything was looking good, when out of the blue one of the defensemen on John's team stole it away and sent it fling up the field, it was received by an attacker who had a clear shot to the net, he dribbled a few times and with a final slam of his foot he rocketed the ball into the back of the net!

The game ended and John glanced at Valerie, she smiled and without breaking eye contact started to peel her cami away from her abdomen. Up over her head, it landed silently on the floor behind the couch. The detectives were still searching each other's eyes, looking for a clue as to where to go next.

John slowly started to lean in, his hand on her knee; Valerie followed placing one hand on his broad shoulder and the other on his neck. He brushed his lips lightly over her lips and them pulled back to gaze into her eyes, he needed to be sure that this was what she wanted. Her eyes fluttered open, and a smile spread across her face, she leaned back in this kiss was harder, full of the pent up tension between them.

When he slipped his tongue out to taste her lips she met him with her own, somehow she had ended up beneath him, back pressed into the couch cushions. One of his hands was tangled in her long brown hair; the other was slowly sliding up her side from her thigh to just below her bra.

Her hand was in his hair holding him to her, scared of breaking the connection; the other was mapping out the muscles of his back, trying to memorize everything. He pulled away from her lips eliciting a low moan, but when his lips connected with the soft skin on the side of her neck she gasped and wrapped one of her long legs around his forcing more of their skin to touch.

His mouth slowly worked its way down her chest but when he hit her bra he stopped, looking up longingly into her eyes he smiled, "Val, we should move into the bedroom."

She laughed and nodded, he slipped his hands around her one under her knees the other around her lower back and carried her to his bed.


	4. Chapter 4

She used the time in his arms to start mapping out his upper body; One hand running from his hair down the toned muscles of his back, the other moving from his arm up over his shoulder and down his chest. All the while her mouth was moving over the side of his neck.

They reached the bed and he placed her gently on top of the comforters. "You are so beautiful," he said as his eyes followed the path that his hand was taking up from her knee, across her abs, and finally settling on the side of her face.

Val reached up tangling her hand in his hair and pulled him down into a passionate kiss. John's hand slipped beneath her and found the clasp to her bra, he quickly undid it and removed it from her body without breaking the kiss. When the need for air got to be too much he pulled away, Val took this time to wrap a leg around John's and before he knew it she had flip them so she now had him pinned.

Smiling she leaned down and captured his lips with hers again. His hand came up and started teasing one of her breasts pulling a low moan from her throat. Sitting up he was at the perfect angle to take her other nipple in his mouth, he rolled his tongue around it a few time, then switched to the other.

Val was so distracted by this that John was able to flip them back over. Starting at her jaw line he started placing kisses down her body, at the base of her neck he found a spot that cause her to twist beneath him, he continued down fully mapping her slender stomach with his mouth, he inserted his tongue briefly into her belly button causing her to shutter.

John's fingers skimmed the waistline of her panties; slowly he slipped his fingers inside and started to draw them down her legs. Once he had freed her of the garment he quickly pulled off his own and started an extremely slow path up her legs.

His hands were on the inside of her thighs; his fingers were creating soft patterns slowly as his mouth finally reached its destination. He slipped his tongue inside of her and was happy to hear a soft moan escape her lips. He smiled and slipped a finger inside, feeling how ready she was for him, adding a second finger he slowly started moving then in and out, curling the tips to hit the spot that made her whole body shudder. He started sketching patterns over her clit with his tongue, she moaned and twisted the comforter in her fists. After a few minutes he could feel her clenching around him, her breathing was ragged, and she called his name as she came.

John slid slowly back up her body as she was coming down form the rush, placing soft kisses along the way. As he captured her lips in his as he slid into her and let out a moan of longing. Forehead resting against hers he started to slowly move in and out.

Val wrapped her legs around his and gripped his shoulders with her hands, never in her life had a man cared this much or done so much for her. As she felt him inside of her she could barely comprehend what was happening, she reached up and caught his lips in another passionate kiss. As they broke apart he started picking up the pace, his faced pressed into the side of her neck he couldn't hold on much longer. Lucky for him, Val was right with him with another stroke she came again and he followed.

When he finally got his breathing back under control he slid out of her and rolled onto his back taking her with him. With her head resting on John's shoulder and her leg thrown over his body Val couldn't help but smile as she drifted into a pleasant sleep. John was right behind her, after placing a light kiss to her head and with his arms holding her securely to his side he fell asleep.

*.*.*

Val woke the next morning with the sun shining down on her face; it took her a few moments to realize where she was. John's arm was draped across her body holding her back firmly against his chest; his breath was tickling the back of her neck as it moved her long hair. She closed her eyes again and snuggled back into his body, she could stay like this all day.

John felt her stir next to him, in his bed. He tightened his hold on her; he couldn't believe that she was lying next to him. "Good morning," he said in a gruff voice thick with sleep.

Val laced her fingers through his, "morning."

"What time is it?" he asked, not really wanting to know the answer because it would probably mean that they had to get up and get ready for work.

She tipped her head up to read the display on the bedside table, "6:47" she replied as she rolled onto her back so she could look at his face.

John groaned and ran a hand over his face and through his hair, looking back into her eyes he said "we should probably start getting ready since you don't have any clean cloths here."

"We should," she agreed and she leaned up to place a soft kiss on his lips before sitting up in bed.

He sat up behind her slipping his arms around her torso, his chin resting on her shoulder, "We could call in sick?" he asked hopefully.

She laughed, and turned her head so her forehead was resting against the side of his neck, "no, we can't."

"Okay, I'll make breakfast while you get a quick shower, then I'll shower and we can stop by your place on the way to work so you can change." He stated.

"Good plan," she said and placed another kiss on his lips before getting up and heading to the shower.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry this chapter took so long, college is kicking my butt :)

* * *

Due to his minor injuries from the day before John was stuck in the precinct doing paperwork with Dorian all day. There were two upsides to this however, the first being that it was Friday, so he had the weekend to look forward to, and the second was entering the break room. John stood quickly told Dorian that he was getting a glass of water and followed Valerie.

Glancing around as he entered he was happy to find that they were alone and out of sight of the rest of the office. Valerie was at the water cooler filling her glass and seemed to be unaware that John had followed her in. He grabbed a mug and walked up behind her placing his hand on her lower back. "Good morning Detective Stahl." He said as she glanced over her shoulder noting the empty room.

"Morning Detective Kennex," she replied turning to face him. His hand slid to her hip and she leaned in so she could smell his shampoo in her hair. "You look tired" was all she said before slipping past him with a grin and leaving the break room.

John let out a sigh and began filling his mug with water. As he reached his desk again Dorian glanced up. "You seem strangely happy to be stuck in the precinct John."

John had been in a great mood all morning and couldn't wipe the smile off of his face after having just talked to Val. "Just glad that it's Friday," John replied turning back to his paperwork.

"Really? What are your plans for this weekend?" Dorian responded unaware of the events that had occurred last night between his partner and the gorgeous woman sitting across the room.

John smiled at the thoughts racing through his head "Probably just going to stay in and relax. I don't want to be stuck at my desk next week as well."

*.*.*

John entered the break room again around lunchtime; there was a group of male detectives sitting at one of the tables with Detective Paul at the center. John made his way to the water cooler to refill his cup, and noticed Val enter the room. All of the detectives' eyes followed her to the counter where she grabbed an apple and turned back to the room.

All of the detectives at the table except Paul turned back to their lunches; Paul didn't hide the fact that he had been checking her out and arrogantly nodded to her from his seat. Val's shoulders tensed, but her face remained expressionless as she left the room.

"I'm going to be nailing that by the end of the month," Paul stated to the detectives around him. John's glare went unnoticed as the other detectives laughed and nodded their approval.

John left the break room, and as he was heading to his desk he caught Val's eye. She smiled while tucking her hair behind her ear. John returned the smile knowing full well that she would not be in Detective Paul's bed ever, and definitely not by the end of the month.

*.*.*

As the day was drawing to an end John approached Val's desk. "Any plans for the weekend?" He asked trying to sound casual.

Val smiled up at him, "Apart from brunch with my parents on Sunday I'm just going to be relaxing. You?"

"Well, I wanted to see this girl but it sounds like she's going to be too busy relaxing." John responded with a shrug.

A crease formed on Val's forehead as she tilted her head to the side, "Well, if she doesn't have time for you then you can always call me."

Laughing John nodded his head, "Maybe I will if, you know, she doesn't get back to me."

"Right, of course," Val replied with a smile, "Goodnight Detective Kennex."

"Have a great weekend, Detective Stahl." John said as he walked away from her desk toward the exit.

A few minutes later Val's phone vibrated, she glanced down and saw that she had a new text: _My place 7:00, bring wine. _Smiling Val quickly responded: _Sounds good._

*.*.*

Val pulled up outside of John's apartment at 7:17, her good mood from earlier long gone. As she had been trying to leave the precinct Detective Paul had stopped her to ask her about a case from a few weeks back. She tried to be polite and give him the information he was asking for, but he kept touching her arm and his eyes were definitely not on the papers he was holding. It had taken her a half hour to get away from him and she was tired of warding off his advances.

She took a breath, John had something planned for her and she was already late. She walked up to the door and the doorman let her in remembering her form last night, and this morning.

When she reached John's door she took another breath before knocking and trying to smile.

John answered the door, an apron over his black t-shirt and jeans, and a spark in his eye that revealed the joy he felt when he saw her standing there. He tilted his head to the side observing her tense shoulders and the strain of her smile, "Val, you okay?" He asked stepping aside to let her into his apartment.

"I'm fine, my mind is just still at work." She said as she turned to face him, John closed the door and Val took a step closer to him. She placed one hand on his chest and stood on her toes to kiss him.

John instantly responded, cradling her head in one hand and pulling her towards him with the other on her lower back. Val's other hand wrapped around him ensuring that there wasn't any space between them.

After a few minutes of this John pulled back slightly, he was happy to find that Val was fully relaxed against him and she had her usual smile lighting her face. He ran his hand down her arm and circled it behind her so both of his hands were pressing into her lower back, "Are you hungry? The food's almost ready."

"You cooked?" Val asked as she turned her head to take in the apartment behind her. A soft "Oh" escaped her lips when she saw the table was set with a candle in the middle and she caught the wonderful aroma escaping from the kitchen. Val turned back to John, "thank you," she said with a soft smile illuminating her face.


End file.
